I got away with reading the NJO having never seen nor heard of Rogue Planet before, so I'd venture that no, it's not necessary at all. The NJO books give you everything you need to know about Sekot to get through.

I would even venture as to say it's more enjoyable without reading Rogue Planet, especially with the mystery surrounding Vergere and what the heck she actually is which you find out half way through NJO. If you read Rogue Planet you sort of know that

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As
@TheJediBrah mentions the NJO actually works better without having read it. Though I personally can't stand it, a lot of other people like it as it's own story. Thus my Recommendation read the NJO and after that Rogue Planet.

I've been meaning to give that one a try. Tried reading it as a kid once and never got very far, but I suspect it'd be a lot more interesting now that I know who Vergere, Zonama Sekot, and all these other characters are.

I don't remember if Rogue Planet or AoC came out first but I never got the impression from the pre-DW NJO that we weren't supposed to know Vergere's past. She's basically a completely new character and knowing where she came from doesn't make her actions in the current story any less enigmatic.

I don't remember if Rogue Planet or AoC came out first but I never got the impression from the pre-DW NJO that we weren't supposed to know Vergere's past. She's basically a completely new character and knowing where she came from doesn't make her actions in the current story any less enigmatic.

I don't remember if Rogue Planet or AoC came out first but I never got the impression from the pre-DW NJO that we weren't supposed to know Vergere's past. She's basically a completely new character and knowing where she came from doesn't make her actions in the current story any less enigmatic.

I think Rogue Planet came out during Dark Tide.[/quote]

I worked in a bookstore when it came out and remembered being turned off by the cheesy-looking cover. Pretty sure it was 2000 that it came out, which would be right in the Dark Tide time frame.

I read Rogue Planet right when it came out and was annoyed by it. I finished the NJO in January and didn't feel like I had missed anything from Rogue Planet, despite the fact that my strongest memory of it is "What the hell was Anakin racing again?"

And Vergere was never a Sith and never will be. That's my canon and I'm sticking to it.

Rogue Planet probably isn't necessary for reading the NJO, but it does offer more background on Zonoma Sekot, as well as the Vong's first (recent) encounter with Sekot. I don't remember loving the book but I don't think it was that bad either, and at the time gave more insight into how Obi-wan and Anakin were getting along.

During the NJO, Vergere was always a mysterious figure. Definitely not just a random minor Vong familiar, she did save Mara's life, but even in just SbS alone seemed to help multiple sides at once, but it mostly makes sense by Traitor and Destiny's Way. So reading RP isn't necessary, but it was interesting seeing a prequel book setting up the NJO.